22-May-2006 - On 24 May
2006 Steve Morley, Environment Agency Area Manager,
and Peter Bounds, Chair of RENEW North Staffordshire,
the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder, will sign
a "Working together protocol" at the
Civic Centre, Stoke-on-Trent at 18:00.
In the Protocol, believed to
be the first such agreement with a Housing Market
Renewal Pathfinder, the partners have agreed to
work together with property developers to ensure
that environmental concerns are taken into consideration
at the very beginning of the consultation process.
Areas of cooperation include:
building environmental considerations
into master plans and development briefs
using best practice in reusing
brownfield and contaminated land
improvement of green spaces,
rivers, canals, flood plains and wildlife corridors
initiatives to reduce climate
change by reducing energy use, water use and drainage
sharing good practice on new
technology and systems with housing developers.
By agreeing the Protocol the
two partners hope to help the revitalisation of
communities and to support the economic regeneration
of North Staffordshire by improving the environment
in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle; making the most
of their unique green and industrial heritage.
Steve Morley for the Environment
Agency said: " I see this as a vital step
in ensuring that important environmental concerns
are taken into account right at the beginning
of the planning process. It should help make North
Staffordshire a thriving, diverse conurbation
where people want to live, work, invest and study."
Peter Bounds, Chair of RENEW
North Staffordshire, commented: "This protocol
will allow us to work together in partnership
to meet our aims of making North Staffordshire
the greenest city region in the UK.
"The Environment Agency’s
expertise and support will help us and our partners
greatly improve the local environment."
More information:
The Environment Agency is a
statutory consultee on planning applications.
www.environ-ment-agency.gov.uk
RENEW North Staffordshire is
the housing market renewal pathfinder for Stoke-on-Trent,
Newcastle-under-Lyme and Biddulph East. Our aim
is to help make North Staffordshire a thriving,
diverse conurbation where people want to live,
work, invest and study. We do this by working
with communities and partners to:
balance housing supply and demand
retain and attract population
provide quality housing that
meets the aspirations of existing and new residents
transform the environment and
make the best of our heritage and green space
support economic regeneration.
The RENEW North Staffordshire
team can be contacted by the public on 01782
232024 or renew@stoke.gov.uk.
Further information can be found on the website:
www.renewnorthstaffs.gov.uk.
